FILM | REVIEWS
DOCUMENTARY FOR SAMA (18) 100min ●●●●●
When, in 2012, Syrian citizen Waad al-Kateab filmed early demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime on her mobile phone, it was to prove to the world that such protests were actually happening. Then a university student, al-Kateab went on to record the atrocities that the regime subsequently inflicted on its people, all from her horrifyingly exposed position in East Aleppo.
Her extensive footage, taken across five years, forms a striking documentary that is intimate in nature and micro in scope. Co-directing with Edward Watts, al-Kateab has produced this film primarily, as she explains in voiceover, for her daughter Sama, whose first year was spent under perpetual bombardment in the rubble-strewn husk of the city. The footage contains many horrors, yet al-Kateab also captures incredible humanity and all-too-brief moments of small, personal victory.
Although the non-linear narrative occasionally hinders the film, For Sama is a powerful testament to the resilient people of Aleppo, filled with in-the-moment fear-stricken testimonies, heartbreaking scenes of death, and scattered with camaraderie and the odd outbreak of resigned levity. This is urgent filmmaking at its finest. (Sophie Willard) ■ Selected release from Fri 13 Sep.
CRIME DRAMA THE KITCHEN (15) 103min ●●●●●
Three mob wives take matters into their own hands in this crime drama based on the DC comic book series. Set in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC in 1978, it stars Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss as women whose Irish mafia husbands are sent to prison. Short of cash, they make the risky decision to set up a protection racket in direct competition with local mobsters. Watching them take over from men is thrilling stuff: this underdog story puts a gun to the head of sexism and isn’t afraid to pull the trigger. But, as the body count escalates, the tone becomes more
problematic. It’s intriguing to see otherwise ordinary female protagonists making deadly decisions, but there isn’t enough exploration of the moral conflict. That said, there is much to enjoy in The Kitchen, which comes with a hefty dose of Fleetwood Mac and grittily groovy 70s stylings. The leads are as fantastic as you’d expect, while male roles are filled well. The film’s conclusion might leave you frowning, but there are moments of fun, dark humour and tension along the way. Hats off to writer-director Andrea Berloff for turning the tables behind the scenes, too: how many gangster films have been directed by women? (Anna Smith) ■ General release from Fri 20 Sep.
ROMANTIC DRAMA THE SOUVENIR (15) 120min ●●●●●
A romance shrouded in mystery and apparently ill-fated is at the heart of Joanna Hogg’s typically brilliant fourth film. The British writer-director of Archipelago takes inspiration from her years as a fledgling filmmaker; we meet a young woman learning her craft while dating a secretive, unsuitable gentleman. Seeking the discomfort of an inexperienced performer, Hogg casts Honor Swinton Byrne
– daughter of Tilda Swinton and John Byrne – in her first major role. Set in the early 80s, the actress plays unworldly filmmaking student Julie, who’s unsuccessfully balancing artistic experimentation with a fraught relationship with Foreign Office worker Anthony (a fascinating, slippery performance from Tom Burke). Swinton Senior (who worked with Hogg on her 1986 short Caprice) appears as Julie’s mother, an upper-class woman who’s fussy and stiff but loving in her own way.
Combining fawn-like fragility with a prissiness that easily betrays her class, Swinton Byrne gives a performance so unaffected as to feel almost out of its depth on the big screen – yet it ultimately works, even against Burke’s more showy, complex turn. Julie is brimming with good intentions and eager to prove herself, but desperately lacking in canny. Although sensitive and interested in others, she is shown to be someone who looks but doesn’t yet see. As the film charts her growth, it reveals her lover’s weakness.
Hogg delivers the first part of her story (part two has been shot) in tantalising, meticulously crafted snatches that resist overt explanation. She paints a fairly unflattering portrait of her own creative evolution, while offering an unforgettable take on the truism: it’s only once we’ve known heartache that we can turn our hand to art. (Emma Simmonds) ■ Out now.
DRAMA BAIT (15) 89min ●●●●●
A principled fisherman tangles with down-from-London types in this leftfield take on class warfare from writer- director Mark Jenkin. Aping silent cinema in its aesthetic and intensity, it turns the mounting tensions of a Cornish fishing village into riveting dramatic fodder. Boat-less fisherman Martin Ward (Edward Rowe) is on a quest to restore his family’s fortunes. His childhood home has been sold to the affluent Leighs (Mary Woodvine and Simon Shepherd), who inhabit it for just two months a year. A man of few words, Martin is straight out of a western, making the smug Leighs the genteel invaders.
Bringing with them Waitrose goodies and folk like them, they’re nightmarishly plausible. Shot in black-and-white using a 16mm clockwork Bolex camera and hand-processed, Bait is a
labour of love. Using masterfully edited montage, Jenkin shows how the elements and individuals rub uneasily up against one another, while stormy stares are delivered via gloomy, grainy visuals that crackle with imperfections. The pertinent, everyday subject matter is lent cinematic stature by the wonderfully perverse approach. By harnessing the past, Jenkin gives real weight to the problems of the present. (Emma Simmonds) ■ Out now.
62 THE LIST 1 Sep–31 Oct 2019